For its very first participation in Only Watch, Gérald Genta is unveiling a minute repeater watch with Disney’s Mickey Mouse playfully indicating the time.

This beloved character has played a central role in the Gérald Genta brand since the 1980s. Mr. Genta, the “Picasso of watchmaking” who gave his name to the watch brand, was bold enough to combine cartoon characters with high-complication watchmaking from 1984 onwards. This was a radical new direction in watchmaking – whimsical and daring, while undeniably keeping with an ongoing quest for excellence.

Now, under the lead of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini and on the initiative of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the Gérald Genta team is celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary as well as the 50th anniversary of the Maestro’s first watch under his own name in 1973, with a joyful Mickey Mouse in the iconic Gérald Genta octagonal case.

Mickey’s swivelling arm, pointing to the retrograde minutes along an arch marked 0 to 60 paired with a jumping hour complication, and the minute repeater chiming the precise hour are three key ingredients in the Gérald Genta brand’s DNA. Though occasionally sketched by the Maestro himself, this masterpiece is the first Gérald Genta watch combining these elements together.The design is very meaningful for Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, who spent many years working with famed Master Watchmaker Pierre-Michel Golay to bring Mr. Genta’s groundbreaking, creative designs to life.

Aside from the enchanting animation driven by several horological complications, this defining timepiece features a white gold octagonal case – a hallmark design cherished by Gérald Genta for its very legible symmetry and spiritual significance. The champlevé enamel dial showcases a smiling enameled Mickey Mouse holding a birthday cake aloft with one hand — a reference to both the Disney’s 100th anniversary and the 10th edition of Only Watch.